Tunbridge Wells Businesses: Going Forward Into 2024
By Index Digital Publisher Stephen Gurney.
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We first mooted the idea of a central business community fund for Tunbridge Wells back in 2016 – which initially fell on deaf ears. In 2017 however, and with the help of Nicky Blanchard from Royal Victoria Place, Hilary Smith from Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and many others we raised over £140,000 to launch Royal Tunbridge Wells Together (RTWT).
The purpose of this organisation was to provide the business community with one voice where we all worked together for a better town.
One of my personal bug bears was road works and traffic light systems which regularly cause chaos for Tunbridge Wells access roads – making the town sometimes a difficult place to get in to or out of. This does not help in creating a good reputation for Tunbridge Wells in surrounding towns and villages and encourage people to travel into the area. So creating a central team that can put pressure on the utilities companies and authorities on our behalf is of great benefit to the town.
In 2019 RTWT morphed into Tunbridge Wells becoming a Business Improvement District (BID). What exactly is this you may ask? A BID is a business-led, business-funded partnership – financed by a levy payment on business rates – which carries out improvements and provides services in a specific area. They are funded by the businesses that benefit from them and the money can only be spent within the BID area on initiatives that have been agreed in a formal business plan.
With a good central fund there are many ways a good team can improve a town and Tunbridge Wells has seen this happen over the past five years in the following ways:
- They have spent £180,000 supporting great local events such as Local & Live, the Puppet Festival, Poetry Festival and much more
- Roadwork awareness campaigns have been carried out and pressure put on utility companies and Kent County Council to prevent the town getting snarled up
- £180,000 spent promoting Tunbridge Wells on buses, railway stations, radio and social media
- Evidential improved footfall in the town
- Christmas campaigns and lights which would not have happened otherwise
- Supporting local businesses with free training and joint buying collaborations
- Working with and part-funding the Safe Town Partnership to increase security in the town
The BID will say this is just a small part of it – and I have provided just a summary. Of course there is so much more to be achieved. And as such here is a summary of the business plan for the next five years:
- Increased staff and owner training with SEEDL
- Increasing security and safety within the town, including town security patrols
- Much higher footfall in the town due to railway, radio, web, magazine and social media campaigns to the wider area
- Supporting the many town events – both financially and with marketing support
- Finding ways to really put Tunbridge Wells on the national and world map with a major campaign around the Subbuteo World Cup in 2024 – Yes football is coming home!
- Street cleaning and aesthetic improvements to the whole town in and out of the BID area
- Collaborating with local organisations such as Creative Tunbridge Wells and Amplifi
- Joint money-saving plans for town businesses
- Plus much more
There are many ways businesses can benefit from this type of organisation and to get involved directly would definitely see a good return on investment.
If you would like to find out more, visit the BID website at https://www.rtwtogether.com/
At Index Digital we fully support Royal Tunbridge Wells Together in its new five-year term. The next few years should be brilliant for Tunbridge Wells with the completion on the old cinema site, Royal Victoria Place getting a transformation and many other projects coming to completion. With its thriving arts and music scene too, it will be one of the best places to live outside London.
Images Stephen Gurney
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